Finding Your Groove
Explore key practices for junior developers to build competence and execute effectively. Learn to ask insightful questions, pair program with mentors, review code critically, and develop problem-solving skills for ongoing growth and workplace success.
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Building competence and ability to execute
Your job as a junior developer is to build competence and the ability to execute. It’s more important that you ask good questions than that you always have answers. Over time, you will learn to have an informed opinion that your employers rely on.
This is your time to not know anything
Better you ask now than a year from now. Say “I don’t know” or “Can you elaborate what you mean?” frequently. Take “My door is open” literally. Indulge your curiosity. Ask questions the smart way. They have to teach you— in fact, some senior developers are evaluated on their ability to explain things simply and to mentor juniors. Return the favor by taking lessons to heart.
📝 Note: See the Lampshading chapter for more tips on how to turn ignorance into power!
Pair programming
A powerful and subtle way of asking for help is asking to ...